Help Please Japanese Black Pine

[shibui]

Don't panic!
I think the pruning you have done is just right. There's enough needles left to ensure good budding but cut back far enough to force the buds to form as close to the base as possible.

I have great difficulty making informed styling decisions from photos. My mind just can't process all the 3D options that are needed.
From what I can see the main trunk looks relatively straight with little taper - typical of JBP that have been grown quick with little pruning.
There are usually several options to deal with that situation:
1. Cut off above a low branch and grow a new tree from the branch.
2. Use Piscineidiot's strategy - bend upper branches down (or, as Pavel showed on my JBP, bend branches up viewtopic.php?f=25&t=21100&hilit=+pine&start=60 to provide the required foliage pads and shaping.
3. Shari can visually lighten a trunk. Shari on one side of a trunk is almost the same as taper in a live trunk.

For now, just fertilise and wait for budding. You should probably not do too much further work on this tree for at least a few months to allow it to recover. After that I'd look for advice at a club meeting or a workshop if you can find either.

[pureheart]

Thank you shibui!!! I'll seat tight and fertilise! I'm planning to join a Bonsai club in Melbourne so hopefully I'll have some help!
Thank you and I'll update you with my progress!!!